The Woman of White Wings
by Dr. Breifs Cat
Summary: The fifth tournament: Jin Kazama is fighting a losing battle to his Devil side while his father seeks to merge with his. Yet somehow, a long forgotten ally reappears. Angelcentric. FINISHED. Finally.
1. Chapter in Which Jin is There

**The Woman of White Wings**

**Chapter One: In Which Jin Receives an Ally

* * *

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Since Jin Kazama's two tournament winning streak was purely off the record, commentators and fans alike of the King of the Iron Fist Tournament regarded him as something of a reappearing underdog. Back when he was nineteen years old and the third tournament was getting underway, Heihachi Mishima's mysterious grandson had been a fan favorite for the title. They looked at him and remembered his father's domination at the first tournament, and how Heihachi had returned from the dankest pits of wherever it was he disappeared to to win the second. What he was lacking in maturity and experience as a fighter, they had said, he made up for in youthful speed and resilience. There were plenty of Americans backing Paul Phoenix or Forrest Law out of national pride or wrestling fans cheering for King, but to most, the Tekken Tournament meant Mishima victories above all else.

The title after the third tournament had stayed with Heihachi. Phoenix, who had been undefeated protested, but the fact remained that he never showed up for the title bout. Jin, the boy who had defeated Ogre, True Ogre and Heihachi knew that the title really belonged to him, but he didn't care about the fame, the money or the Zaibatsu. He just wanted his mother back. If he couldn't have that, he would have settled for the grandfather he knew for four years. His grandfather had been a wonderful teacher, a good provider and the only father-figure the boy had ever known. He knew now that it had all been an act and that Heihachi really wanted him dead, so Jin had fled and abandoned the title.

The fourth tournament played out more or less the same way, minus the mythological fighting god. Jin defeated all of his opponents and ran away. He left them alive, though his goal in participating was to kill his grandfather, and his father, who had suddenly reappeared, so Jin had to wonder why he had even come out of hiding at all. Really, he had not accomplished a thing in the tournament. What's more, he knew his mother's memory would never allow him to kill another human being while in his right mind. And his right mind was losing the battle against the mindless monster known as his 'devil' side, something he'd inherited from his father. Maybe a part of him hoped that he would lose control fully long enough to kill Heihachi and Kazuya. As unpleasant as it was, it was the only answer Jin had to the question of why he came back for a fifth tournament.

And come back he had, to the Fifth King of the Iron Fist Tournament, where he was hailed as a tenacious underdog with a never say die attitude. Opinion polls showed he was the most popular fighter among girls ages twelve to twenty-five and that no less than eighty-three percent of fans thought this tournament would be his year.

As such, Jin, mysterious young heartthrob that he was, was used to the stares of people on the streets and in his hotel during the times the tournament was in session. He would have liked to wear his jacket hood over his face, but as that had been branded his trademark at last month's tournament, doing so would result in more people recognizing him, not less. Jin would have liked to hole himself up in his hotel room, but he didn't think it beyond the scope of likelihood that his grandfather's men would storm the place. He certainly didn't believe his grandfather was dead, no matter what the newspapers were reporting.

Once again, Jin was forced to consider why he came to the tournament at all. There was always an ulterior motive, he knew that. The first was a poorly masked contest of wills between Heihachi and Kazuya. The second, Kazuya was trying to draw out his father. Then Heihachi baited Ogre with the best martial arts the world had to offer, serving up his own grandchild on a silver platter. For the fourth tournament, Heihachi sought to pull Kazuya out of wherever he'd been hiding for over twenty years. But as for the fifth, Jin didn't know what anyone was planning, which meant he could very well be part of the mysterious benefactor's goal. That put himself and anyone between him and the Mishima Zaibatsu at risk, which was why he had to keep moving.

And ask himself, why, if he was the target, was he willing to play into this person's hands? For another chance at murders he knew he couldn't commit? Or was it because he _knew_ he was losing his mind to his Devil side and he wanted the true Jin to go out in a blaze of glory, proving to Heihachi and Kazuya that he would fight their dark influence to the last?

He was mulling all of this over in a coffee shop, a quaint place that served its beverages in chipped ceramic mugs that looked as though they'd had long and useful lives in this café. It was the sort of place he thought his mother would like, it had a simple, homey feel to it. Both his mother and Heihachi had taught him that caffeine was unhealthy, so he drank decaf partly because he knew his mother was right and partly because a martial artist couldn't tolerate fluctuating energy levels, especially if hordes of mercenaries are apt to attack you at any moment. He drank his coffee black, in the hopes that its bitterness would keep him alert.

Every now and then, someone would ask for his autograph. Jin always told him that he didn't sign things. The idea of encouraging the spectators of the tournament made him feel slightly ill. Some people walked away angry and muttered to their friends that Jin Kazama was a snob who thought he was too good for his fans. Others gushed that he was a mysterious loner, just like they'd always heard and were delighted that he had spoken to them.

One asked if she could sit down at his table and took a seat before he could respond that he preferred to be alone. She looked Westernblond hair, blue eyes—so he said in English, "Please, I would rather be alone."

She responded in Japanese, with an accent that sounded like she hadn't spent a day of her life outside of Tokyo. "Don't speak to me aloud, Jin Kazama, lest you wish to appear as though you are talking to yourself."

Jin ignored that comment, considering it made no sense. "If you don't want to talk to me, why did you sit here?"

"I'm not sure," she said. "I suppose someone wants me here. It may be you, Jin Kazama, after all, I saw you first. I thought you might have been Kazuya, when I saw you, but then I remembered he would have aged. Has anyone ever told you that you look like your father?"

"Yes, quite a few times." Jin kept his voice neutral. It sounded like the woman was trying to imply that she knew his father. He didn't know if she was ignorant of the bad blood between the Mishimas and trying to get on his good side or if she honestly knew him. Either way, he the comment had his opinion of her turn from indifference to dislike.

"You shouldn't be so quick to judge others." If Jin didn't know better, he would have thought she was scolding him.

"Judge?" he questioned. Maybe his tone had given more away then he'd wanted.

"You shouldn't dislike me because I know your father. Your mother knew your father and you don't hate her. Paul Phoenix knows your father and you don't dislike him, though from what I understand they didn't have a good relationship… It was something of a rivalry, not unlike yourself and Hwoarang. Anna Williams knows your father, Lee Chaolan knows your father, Bruce Irvin—"

"You can stop."

"What?"

"Listing people in the tournament who knew him. I don't care." It was somewhat true. Jin didn't care because those people didn't have affection for Kazuya, didn't call him by his given name while referring to Jin by his full name. Come to think of it, Kazuya called Jin by his full name the only time they'd met. The last thing Jin needed was strangers copying his father's mannerisms in front of him.

"It's not copying, exactly. Jin Kazama."

She had told him not to speak out loud. It was a strange request. "Can you read my mind?"

The woman smiled. "Yes. And before you ask, no one else even knows I'm here. Of all the people in this building, the only one who can see me is you. Twenty years ago, your mother could see me."

"And my father?"

"Well, I'm a part of _him_. I'd be insulted if he couldn't see me."

Today was a victory for Jin's curiosity, apparently, because he leaned closer across the table and asked in hushed tones, "How is that possible?"

"Yin and yang, Jin Kazama." She flexed her shoulders and large white feathered wings grew from her back instantly. Those were what his wings would have looked like, Jin realized, had they not been black. "For every devil, an angel, for every man, a woman." Apparently, she found that explanation good enough. Jin did not. "And you are still speaking aloud." She sighed, shifted in her chair to a more casual position. "But then, your father never listened to me, either. I don't see why you would."

Being compared to his father made Jin comfortable and it showed clearly.

"He's the same way, you know."

Jin glared.

She reached over the table to tug on one of the locks of hair arranged over his forehead. "You look just like him. Do you wear bangs to be different?"

Jin swatted her hands away, not concerned at all that by now he'd gathered a few audience members, all of whom tried to look like they weren't staring. He had worn his hair like that long before he ever knew what his father looked like, though he could remember his mother brushing his bangs to the side and looking at him in such a way that had always made him think she was looking past him. She had been looking for Kazuya, hadn't she?

"My mother…" he finally mumbled, "wore her bangs like that. I want to look more like her."

"Yes," the woman said with that same sort of look, "of course…"

"Did you know my mother well?"

"I barely knew her at all. Anything I saw was limited to what Kazuya let me see. All I knew of her was his perceptions of her and that she could always see Devil and I, trailing behind him. I only met her as something other than a shadow of Kazuya once."

She bowed her head. "I'm sorry for all of this, Jin Kazama. It's my fault. I thought I had been successful. I see now what a failure it was."

"What are you talking about?"

"I was born when your father met your mother. She was a person who radiated goodness and he loved her; he couldn't bear to be near her as he was. I grew to combat Devil. In those days, Kazuya wanted his freedom. Freedom to be happy, to be his own person, to be someone who could be good.

"When he was thrown into the volcano, Devil fled Kazuya's body so that he wouldn't die as well. I thought I had won. Devil surrendered. Then Devil went after you." She smiled, humorously. "Marvelous way to find out that you've become pregnant by a man who left you for a fight to the death, isn't it? By this time, your father's soul had been saved and your mother and I fought together to defeat Devil. I thought that you had been saved as well and that my mission was over.

"When Kazuya was resurrected, only Devil returned to his body. He'd lost everything and thought only of getting it all back, anyway he could. I was never summoned to return. I don't know why I've been summoned now."

Jin didn't like putting anyone on the same level as his mother, but… "Maybe he's met someone else."

She thought it over and dismissed it. "That doesn't sound very likely. Any feelings I have originated from Kazuya and _I_ still love _her_. He won't have moved on."

"You do know..that's she's dead, right?" Jin had probably never managed to force a more difficult question from his throat.

She sniffed indignantly. "I know better than to believe in mortality, Jin Kazama. There is no death to the soul."

It was perhaps the best and worst thing anyone had ever told him.

"I also know this: I am Angel, the ally of those who would fight Devil."

**Next—Kazuya is forced into a frank discussion.**

Disclaimer: The Tekken Franchise is property of Namco. They make money from it, I do not. Here's the easiest way to tell the difference: They make video games, I write fanfiction.

Author's Notes: Yeah, Angel. Remember her? Blonde, winged Kazuya-hugger? Yeah, her. She rules.


	2. Chapter in Which Kazuya is There

**The Woman of White Wings**

**Chapter Two: In Which Kazuya is Forced into a Frank Discussion**

Angel had vanished soon after her announcement. Being able to think about the whole thing rationally, without someone who stared at him or scolded him for every disbelieving thought before he could even finish it, Jin came to the conclusion that he was going insane. Either he was putting too much pressure on himself or this was yet another side effect of the cursed blood his father gave that he had been unaware of, but the fact was, invisible, mind-reading winged women did not exist. That Jin had come face to face with a Mayan fighting god and was apt to transform into a three-eyed tattooed beast when he was particularly upset or his life was in danger notwithstanding, the boy simply wasn't ready to give up on outside precepts of What Is Real and What Is Not. She was a delusion. She was not someone who could actually help him fight what he was becoming.

Jin left the café to walk the streets alone with his head hung and once again tell himself that he should have not come back to Japan. He didn't know what Heihachi had to gain by pretending he was dead, but he was sure there was some sort of plan involved and equally sure that it had something to do with bringing himself and his father to their untimely ends. By participating in the tournament, Jin felt like he was almost sacrificing himself to this, that he could never be more than someone locked in a three-way struggle to kill his opponents. He should have been able to run away and leave Heihachi and Kazuya to their battle which had been going on since long before Jin was born.

Jin didn't have the time to run away. He couldn't just wait until they succeeded in killing each other to live a normal life. He was losing to Devil and he wanted to take them down with him.

He also wanted to lie down, Jin realized, so he stopped walking when he reached the nearest bus stop, waited for the first bus and rode until he reached a good place to start looking for a cheap motel. He was better off staying away from the address his tournament entry listed. He was also better off not leaving a paper-trail, so when he found a motel, he paid in cash and registered under a fake name, no questions asked.

The room was small and sparsely decorated—a bureau, an old television on a rickety stand, a bed with an Angel sitting in the center cross-legged and staring vacantly out the grimy window.

It seemed impossible that she could be there to greet him unless she was a fabrication of his mind. She just acted so insulted when he doubted her, though, that Jin's natural politeness overtook the realistic portions of his brain. He supposed all either of them really had was belief.

"I didn't even know I was going to be here. How could you?" It was nicer than a 'What the hell are you doing here,' at least.

The question was ignored. Jin might as well have never said it, or because she was a mind-reader, even wondered. Angel leapt up from the bed, flew across the room—which was so small it was really more like jumping, but because she had wings, it looked like flying—and hugged him tightly in greeting. It was really only right that someone with no regard to personal space look Western.

"After we had such a lovely chat, I wanted to talk to your father, but I didn't know where to find him. You can help me look for him, can't you?"

"The last thing I need is to look like I want to find him," Jin replied. It was true, of course. If Kazuya thought Jin was looking for him, then he very well might appear unwanted and that would result in a battle. If he was going to fight his father, Jin at least wanted to do it someplace he could be assured no one outside of the Mishima clan could stumble upon them and get hurt.

Though she didn't take her arms from around him, Angel pulled back a little to better look him in the face. "It's normal for a child to want to know where their parent is. No one will think anything of it."

"Kazuya would. I don't want him thinking that I want to see him. Can't you just find him the way you did before I was born?"

Angel moved closer to Jin again, resting her chin on his shoulder and speaking in a slightly stifled voice. "I can't find him. I used to just know where he was and what he was thinking the way I know now with you. I don't even know where to look anymore. He's not the same person he was, I'm sure of that much."

Jin didn't say anything but wondered if it was possible to feel the jaw bone of a delusion digging into one's shoulder. Angel left this thought alone, though she probably heard it loud and clear.

"I'm not asking for a lot. Just find someplace where he'll have to be sometime or even someplace that he was but has already left. I can't just walk up to someone and ask if they've seen him."

"He's not going to be leaving a trail for the Zaibatsu to pick up on anymore than I am. He's smarter than that." Jin had only met his father once and didn't have any idea how Kazuya's mind worked, but he was good at hiding from Heihachi's men. If he had not been, then at some point, he would have wound up being part of Jin's life.

"I have to talk to him." Angel couldn't argue Jin's logic.

"Why? You said yourself he doesn't listen to you."

"I just have to." She stepped away from Jin finally. He thought she looked like she was about to cry. "I'm the only one who loves him now. Doesn't he at least deserve to know I'm here?" The plea did little to change Jin's mind, so she added, "Also, I have to smack him for being an idiot." She thought she saw Jin smile at that, just a little.

Actually finding Kazuya was fairly difficult. Looking at the tournament records, Kazuya had no local address given and neither Jin nor Angel could find anyone mentioning him hanging around any of the Mishima buildings like the foreign contestants were known to do. Angel proved to be very good at eavesdropping and tended to want to gossip about the female entries. She was trying to explain the history of Anna and Nina Williams when Jin walked away from the unseen annoyance to convince a Mishima receptionist to print out a copy of his father's fight schedule, hoping to find a stage that Kazuya would eventually have to be. Playing the part of the caring son left a bad taste in Jin's mouth, but it was met with more success than any other attempts at finding him. Making sure the print-out was visible to her, Jin explained in hushed tones that she could see Kazuya after his fight with Raven—or before, if she wanted to make him look like a raving lunatic in front of his opponent.

But she was gone.

* * *

Kazuya Mishima walked away from Raven disgusted after their match. The ninja had acted as though he had information that would be useful to Kazuya that he was unwilling to part with. But a foot to the man's chest revealed that whatever organization Raven was working for, they were just as in the dark as Kazuya himself. For all he "observed" G Corporation, Raven didn't know why they had betrayed Kazuya. He even had the gall to ask Kazuya what was the beneath the temple. 

If there was something beneath Homaru that had been freed when the temple exploded, and if that was the same entity that was now in control of the Zaibatsu, Kazuya could only think of one way that it could have gotten there in the first place. Heihachi.

But if Heihachi had known there was something powerful under Honmaru, why would he have brought Jin to be held captive there as well? Perhaps it was not the chains that kept Jin's Devil side in check, but the temple itself. There, Kazuya had been unable to transform into his Devil self, unable to pull Jin's essence out. Devil suspected it had something to do with the Kazama blood, but when had Jun ever implied that she her own supernatural abilities to pass on? Kazuya hadn't seen Jin transform in Honmaru; Jin didn't need his full power to defeat his father. Devil Jin's ire at been directed only at Heihachi and then short lived. Kazuya, upon regaining consciousness, had been far more concerned with escaping the Jack robots than noticing the black feathers on the ground.

He'd gotten no answers out of Raven—no reason for why G Corporation betrayed him. And now he was beginning to suspect that Honmaru had been a prison for someone powerful, other than Jin. Leaving the shinobi, if Raven could really be called such, to his own devices, Kazuya turned his back and left the rooftop stage where they had fought.

A little lean-to housed the stairwell, on top of which sat a women dressed in white.

"Kazuya," her voice was heavy, she was someone who only now realized that she had been betrayed. "You summoned Devil. Why didn't you summon me?"

His left eye, permanently red now, began to glow, but rather than transferring control of his body Kazuya muttered, "No, I'll handle this."

"You'll handle what?" Angel's response, not Devil's; Devil's answer was only in Kazuya's mind, unspoken, and apparently, unheard by Angel.

To Angel, he said, "I have no use for you."

"That's obviously a lie, since I'm here now. I wouldn't be here if you didn't want me and you know it." She hopped down from where she sat to be eye-level with him on the rooftop. Some meters back, she could see Raven pulling himself to his feet, but that was far less important.

"You are merely another who would get in my way. I did not call you here."

Angel balked. "Get in your way? When have I ever done anything that wasn't helping you? I'm the one who wants what's best for you. Devil is possessing your soul so that he can have a material body. Nothing you want matters to him. How many years has he been making you promises that he hasn't kept? Huh?"

"Devil and I have come to a new agreement," Kazuya responded. "And it has no place for you."

"Why are you listening to him? You wanted to get rid of him! Don't you remember wanting to be free? To be a good person?"

Desperate questions ignored, Kazuya pushed past her to make his way down the steps and off the roof. Angel watched him. "Kazuya?"

He turned back towards her, just a bit. His right side was facing her, she could see his normal eye. It was familiar and comforting. Maybe he was willing to listen to her now. "You'd be surprised how much death changes a person's plans." The brown eye began glowing as well and the voice that came out of Kazuya's mouth no longer his own. "You abandoned him in death."

"So did you! You attacked Jin!"

"Kazuya lives now only because I returned to his body."

"You didn't do it for him!"

"Why should he choose you, you who forces your morality upon him unasked for, over me, who gives him the power to fulfill his ambitions? Choose you, who left him to die, over me, who saved his life?"

The physical manifestation of Kazuya Mishima's good side as a separate entity shook with rage.

"You left him to save your own life. His soul was saved. You forced him back to life so that YOU could still live in the human world because you couldn't have JIN!"

The glow of the right eye subsided. Kazuya was once again in control. "So you would wish me dead, Angel?"

"I wish you peace, Kazuya. I fear you will only know this peace in death." Angel was ashamed to say it, ashamed because it was true, ashamed because it sounded like she was betraying him, as he betrayed her. Could her actions hurt his feelings? She would have thought it unlikely, but he had taken his voice back for that question.

He turned his back towards her fully, and continued walking down the stairs. "Then leave me to my peace."

**Next—The Asuka Question**

Disclaimer: See last installment.


	3. Chapter in Which Asuka is There

**The Woman of White Wings**

**Chapter Three: In Which the Nature of Asuka is Revealed**

She called it "justice." Any other name, and she would have to admit all she was really doing was butting into other people's business and solving all their problems with a good solid beating. Most of the victims of Asuka's justice didn't cause any more problems and the ones who did were sure to be quiet about it. The Kazama girl was trouble and because of that, when the dojo was trashed by an unknown assailant, around the neighborhood, they called it "justice." Maybe a few people thought it was unfair that the students and their teacher got the punishment, but guilt by association was still guilt in Asuka's eyes. Justice.

No one ever said so, but a lot people who'd had run-ins with Asuka in the past were thrilled when she left for Tokyo. Maybe she wouldn't come back. They didn't much care if she was beaten into submission or humiliation by the suspect the Interpol agent told her could be found at the King of Iron Fist tournament, or if she got a job in the capital or transferred to another school. It didn't matter to anyone why she wasn't around, just as long as she was gone.

A rough around the edges teen fit perfectly into the world of the tournament, where assassins, millionaires and martial artists lurked around every corner. She was surprised to learn that she wasn't the first entrant to clear a match with two successive knock outs in a high school uniform, but she was more surprised to learn that over the twenty-someodd years in which the tournament had been held four other times, and only roughly thirty people had ever made it to the main event, from countries all over the world, there had been two people named "Kazama" to come before her. It wasn't a common name, and even if it was, less than half of the competitors were Japanese. The odds must be astronomical.

Jun Kazama.

Jin Kazama.

Their names sounded so similar that Asuka wondered if they were related to each other, never mind related to her. Though they did use the same kanji as her family and according to the records, Jun used the traditional Kazama style, identical to what Asuka had been taught by her father. She'd always found coincidences like that to be suspicious.

So she'd been left in the dark about something. Asuka tried not to be too offended, after all, she wasn't twenty yet and even when she was an adult, that didn't mean she was entitled to know everything. But as the person who'd come to the tournament to redeem the Kazama name and get vengeance for her father's stunning defeat, she at least deserved to know if the attack was related to these two people. The same name, the same style and a history at the tournament which was the next stop for her unknown Chinese kenpo-fighting enemy…it was too much. Was it possible this person attacked her father as retaliation for something done to him by Jun or Jin Kazama?

Asuka considered herself pretty well versed in the art of investigation. After all, no one in Osaka was willing to tell her what really caused their feuds, she had to find out for herself and fix it herself. First things first, she had to identify the attacker on her dojo. That was simple enough, if indeed he was to be found here at the tournament.

She looked up the entrants by nationality and found three Chinese fighters—Wang Jinrei, Ling Xiaoyu and Feng Wei. She checked on the Americans next, since you never could be sure about what someone could mistake them for and found two of Chinese descent, Marshall Law and Julia Chang. Finally, came a category she discovered by accident—people who claimed no nationality. She was able to rule out Kazuya Mishima easily enough, since his name matched that of the Zaibatsu, he was obviously Japanese. Raven was clearly not Chinese or even Asian, same with Jack-5, who had a very strange look to him that she couldn't place. Yoshimitsu's face was covered and the name he used probably wasn't a real one, which left him in the running. Wang Jinrei, she ruled out because he was a very old man, and not what Lei Wulong—of Hong Kong and not a suspect—had described to her. Ling and Chang were women and to top it of, Chang didn't even look very Chinese. (The entrant information, of course, did not say anything about Julia being adopted into the Chinese-American/Native-American family.) So her suspects were Feng Wei, Marshall Law and Yoshimitsu.

Before beginning her Stage One and Stage Two battles, Asuka had asked her opponent if they had seen anyone who fit the description given to her by Lei Wulong. Neither had, so she gave them both a sound trashing to ensure her continued to participation in the tournament and the search for the man who had injured her father for no known reason. By Stage Three—another double knock out, of course—Asuka was becoming impatient. How could it be that no one had seen someone who was supposed to be at the tournament?

Her fourth match opponent Feng Wei was getting the usual questions until she got a good look at him. Without question, he was the one she had been looking for. It wasn't just that he fit the description that the Interpol agent had given her. When he turned to face her and their eyes met, he looked at her with the ugliest stare she'd ever seen. He had some sort of goal, she was sure, something more than the revenge against Kazamas that she'd half-expected. This man had a goal and he'd hurt anyone who stood in the way as badly as he might have needed.

With a very sinking feeling, Asuka realized this goal lay at the top of the tournament, and four stages in, she had found herself in his way. All of her notions of justice suddenly stopped making sense. This man had nearly killed her father and had to get through all of his students to get to him. However strong Asuka was, however strong she believed herself to be, she was not stronger than all of them combined. This man was.

As all of this tumbled through her mind, this man attacked her. He smashed through all of her blocks and her counters were ineffectual. She could do nothing against him without mediation, but he wouldn't give her even the few seconds she needed to warm-up the strike. Visions of her own death danced before her eyes and she thought in the split second before she lost consciousness that she'd been blinded by a white light that seemed to emanate from her own body.

After the confrontation with his father, Jin hadn't been able to shake Angel for a moment. If she wasn't where he was, then she arrived where he was going before he did. She seemed to have grown tired of gossip, which didn't happen soon enough for Jin's taste but there was something else on her mind that was just as distracting. She tended to jump as though she'd heard something not even he, the possessed boy who fought Mayan gods and chatted with angels, could detect.

After one such an occasion, she stared for sometime at nothing in particular and when she remembered that Jin existed, began tugging on his bangs and muttering about his mother. He asked if she thought Jun might be alive somehow and got no response. More questioning got the same silence until he stopped. Jin never really expected an answer, anyway. Angel was good at making demands and equally talented in dancing her way out of any of his.

When she was ready to talk again, she asked to hear about the tournament entrants, any new names or unfamiliar faces especially. She asked to know about people who'd been involved in the tournament twenty years ago often enough that Jin had a list folded up in his back pocket at all times. With an internal sigh that might as well have been voiced given who he was dealing with, Jin started scanning the list.

"Skip to the K's."

One right under the other, Kazama, Kazama. Jin swore. How could he have missed that for so long?

"Don't ask me," Angel said with a shrug, despite the fact that he'd asked no one. "I only know what you know."

Still taken with the name that was actually above his, Jin muttered, "But you had intuition…you knew to look."

"Your mother had this power, when she was near, sometimes it was like Devil didn't even exist. I don't know why it was triggered, but someone near by has Kazama blood." She held a hand up to stop him before he even opened his mouth. "Not you. That--" a peek to the much abused sheet of paper, "Asuka Kazama, she's not tainted like you are. She's pure and she's purified something else on top of that. I think it's important that you meet her. She could be the greatest ally we can hope for in this war."

Even though Angel had been able to sense the Kazama power, she couldn't guide herself or Jin to Asuka now that it was dormant again. As usual, all the work involved with hunting the girl down fell on Jin's shoulders. In most respects, Angel was unable to affect the physical world at all though Jin's hair was certainly in the realm of what she could touch, given how often she pushed his bangs away from his forehead or tugged on them. Whether or not anyone else could see his hair moving was one of the few internal questions that Angel didn't have an answer for or opinion on.

His questions regarding whether or not Angel was real in her own way or some sort of hallucination also hadn't been answered, (Jin didn't care to find Kazuya and ask his father about any experiences regarding her) Asuka Kazama was real and they found her hospitalized.

Though she was a stranger and a handful of years younger than him, Jin could see a resemblance in her face. He'd never met a relative on his mother's side of the family before. As a child, he had believed that he and his mother were just without other family. Learning of the Mishima clan at fifteen had disproved part of that theory and Asuka Kazama took care of the rest.

Taking note of the heavy bruising on her face and arms, Jin asked Angel, "Do you suppose she lost a fight against Kazuya?"

"No…if Devil was out there fighting, we'd both know it. It was a human who sinned of his own accord that did this to her."

"Heihachi?"

Angel shrugged. "There are other people out there as evil as him. Probably."

Jin grinned. It was the first time he'd seen through her. "Yeah, I doubt that, too." She noticed it as well, because she crossed her arms, sniffed and mumbled something about being allowed to hate people. It made sense as far was Jin was concerned. No matter how good Kazuya's good side was, it wouldn't be without hatred. It was Kazuya, after all.

"Am I dead?"

Both of Asuka's visitors were startled to hear her speak, as they had thought she was sleeping, or possibly unconscious from the fight.

"Why would you think you're dead?" Jin asked.

"I failed to restore my father's honor. I knew when the fight was over that I could never go home again and now an angel has come for me. I must be dead." The girl's voice was weak and painful to listen to, not only because speaking must be difficult with her injuries but for her resolve as well. She'd be beaten to this degree and believed because of it that she could never return home. In such a circumstance, anyone would rather be dead.

"You can see her?"

Asuka was either confused by the question or concussed from the fight. "Why wouldn't I?"

Angel was grinning. "Jin thinks he's losing his mind and that I'm just a hallucination he's been having."

Both of the Kazamas spoke at once, one piecing together the truth behind Jin and Jun, and the other declaring that he was losing control of who he was and that was as close to losing one's mind that anyone was likely to come.

"No," said Angel, still smiling as broadly as Jin had ever seen, "You've won, Jin. You won the moment we entered this room. Pure Kazama blood is stronger than half the Mishima curse.

"Her light is chasing away the purple haze that came upon you the night your mother's light faded.

"Maybe you can't see it like I can, but Devil Jin is gone."

Jin shed his jacket and shirt. The mark on his arm that branded him as a demon was gone and there was no trace that it had ever been there left, not even the echoing scar of a removed tattoo.

"Then it's over," Jin breathed. Had he ever been this relieved before?

"Not yet." Angel's smile had turned into a smirk. "Twenty years ago, Devil and I fought to a standstill many times. But since then he had lost half of himself to you, an essence that no longer exists. Devil is half as strong as he was then, but I am exactly the same as I always was. I can defeat him now.

"And then, it will be over."

**Next—The Fate of Those Who Heed the Call**


	4. Chapter in Which Devil is There

**The Woman of White Wings**

**Chapter Four: In Which the Final Battle is Won**

Kazuya Mishima was only one step away from facing his father, having only now to wait for Heihachi to finish and win his bout before father and son advanced to the Quarter-Finals. It gave him less grim pleasure than any of the previous times he'd been at this point. As with every time they fought, Kazuya had to believe he would win, lest his own attitude be his undoing. But he had no interest—today—in a fight to the death with his father. In fact, what he actually wanted more was to speak to Heihachi. He couldn't remember ever having a simple conversation with him. One sided lectures in his youth were common. As was spitting curses and insults as they fought as adults, equals and enemies. And maybe, though he very much doubted this, fighting side by side as allies, had weakened his resolve. He left Heihachi to die then, flashing his father a small smile as he did so. And just a month later, here they were on the brink of seeing each other once more, and Kazuya found himself with no interest in his father's potential demise.

He wanted to talk.

The fifth tournament of the Iron Fist had forced Kazuya to finally accept something he'd been trying to deny for over twenty years. Every step he took, everything he thought he knew, every goal he'd set for himself…it was all a result of Heihachi manipulating him. He was deceived, tricked and defeated every time they faced off. Kazuya could go for years with no contact from his father and still play right into his hands. He didn't even know when it began, how far it reached, what Heihachi ultimately wanted. With no information at all, he couldn't formulate an appropriate counter-measure. Fighting with the intent to win, that alone had never served him well. Every time they fought, the where and when was dictated by Heihachi. Even when Kazuya thought he was the one pulling the strings, he was still Heihachi's puppet.

_Did this start with Grandfather, or had you been plotting against us all even before that?_ He'd brought Jin and Kazuya both to Honmaru; he had chains there to suppress the Devil in them both. Raven had spoken of something concealed underneath it.

Heihachi had had those chains for a long time. He had seen a supernatural shadow over his father and contained it before it could become a threat to him. But he didn't have any of that power himself. He wasn't willing to use himself has a guinea pig.

_Did you throw me to Devil on purpose? _It wasn't out of the question for Heihachi to want to plant this power in someone young that he could control. That he could watch develop, and then decide if it was worth contaminating himself.

_The one time I defeated you…I won because you let me._ It wasn't even something Kazuya could bring himself to phrase as a question. Heihachi had wanted him to win. Heihachi wanted to know what he would do. Apparently, he had either outgrown being a worthwhile experiment or the results were negative. It was the second tournament that Heihachi fought Kazuya with the intent to kill. The first time. Maybe even the only time.

Kazuya had accepted that he was a pawn. He didn't like it; he was possibly more disgusted with his father than he'd ever been. But he had to know, towards what end had he been used? How much of his life was _only_ his? Did Jun Kazama enter his life because Heihachi wanted a new specimen to continue his experiment on after doing away with Kazuya himself? Making love to a woman because your father wanted you to procreate before he killed you—what a repulsive thought. If so, did she know? Or was she has blind as him? If she was a tool, he hoped she went unknowingly. At least then, she would have been an ally to him, as he'd always thought of her.

And what of Jin? Was he—as he rather looked—just Heihachi's second Kazuya? Or was some portion of his life his own? Kazuya didn't have any particular attachment to Jin. To a degree, it even seemed to him that they wanted the same thing: Jin wanted his Devil side gone and Kazuya wanted to reclaim it; they wanted to be rid of Heihachi. If Jin would stop attacking him for a moment, they might even reach a truce. It was a little vexing that Jin wanted him dead. They'd never even met before the fourth tournament. He supposed that Heihachi could have filled the boy's head with propaganda, but he probably knew better by now that to listen to anything his grandfather had to say. Or he could be bitter about his father never being there for him, but that seemed silly. The less they see of Kazuya, the better off most people are. He was, of course, quite aware of his tendencies for the violent, murderous and immoral, and by not being a part of Jin's life, the boy had been spared any of this directed at him. Or he could be angry about the whole demonic possession thing, but Kazuya did want to fix that.

But now, it was time to wait.

* * *

Not long ago, Jin had no allies at all and refused to accept help. To be an associate of his meant you were in danger, if not from his enemies, then from himself. Somehow—and he did wonder how—he had acquired a chatterbox of an angel, whose existence had finally been proven, and a tough talking teenage girl. Jin had expected Asuka to be more like his mother once she was up and about. They had the same power and he expected the same gentleness. She was blunt and crass. Nosey. She fought for fun before she fought to defend the weak. If anything, she liked picking on the weak.

She wasn't afraid of looking just plain crazy like Jin was either. She chatted with Angel in public with as much volume and animation as she would anyone else. He tried to pretend that she wasn't with him, but Asuka would have none of that. She was basically cheerful, though. She'd failed to avenge her father but that Jin and Angel didn't reject her for it seemed to encourage her. When she went back to Osaka, Asuka told him, Jin should come too. She didn't know of any relative named Jun, but they could ask her father and if he didn't know either, he could probably suggest someone who might. It would be fun to know how they were related, she said, now that they were friends. He could attend the dojo, too, and learn Kazama style.

Jun had taught him very little of the family's traditional school of martial arts. What he did know, he'd fused together with the Mishima style his grandfather taught. He conditioned himself to stop using Mishima-ryu in favor of the karate he learned in Brisbane. A side effect had been losing Kazama-ryu as well. Jin liked the idea of learning his mother's moves after so long. If he fought like her, maybe he could feel her with him…

"We should go soon," Angel was telling Asuka while the three of them sat in that same coffee house that Jin had first met her in. "We have to get to Kazuya before Heihachi does or it might be too late."

"You think Heihachi is going to kill him?" Asuka asked.

Angel frowned. "I don't know what he wants, but if he does want to kill Kazuya, he's perfectly able to. Devil used Kazuya's first death to cement their bond and push me out. If he dies again and Devil doesn't revive him, his soul is lost. If he dies again and Devil revives him again, they'll just bond closer. They could become the same entity."

Asuka smirked and cocked her head. "No worries. You get me over there and I'll purge him the same way I did Jin."

"I don't think that'll work. Jin wanted his Devil side gone. Kazuya is a willing host, so we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way."

Asuka's smile turned predatory. "Even better."

Angel shook her head. "This one is mine."

* * *

There should have only been two entering the stage, but there were five. It was a surprise to both Kazuya and Heihachi to see Jin arrive on the scene, pushing a teenage girl in a wheelchair. Heihachi didn't see their other companion, the angel dressed in white, but she had the majority of Kazuya's attention. If Heihachi had been a less honorable fighter, he would have attacked Kazuya while he was distracted. As it was, he chose not to move, but only watched. Judging by his body language, his grandson had not come for him, but for Kazuya and as far as Heihachi was concerned, the boy could do what he wanted with his father.

"This ends now, Devil," Angel said, spreading her wings and taking to the sky. She didn't know if Kazuya would allow Devil to come out this time and prepared to dive bomb him until her true opponent surfaced. The demon seemed to agree and Kazuya transformed.

Heihachi stifled a gasp at the sudden, and to his eyes, unprovoked change. In the air, he could see Devil throwing punches, kicks and energy blasts at nothing. Kazuya, it seemed to him, had finally lost his mind completely.

The battle Jin and Asuka saw was fought by two beings rather than one. Their fighting styles were identical and it looked like their reaches were as well. Twenty years ago, when they were evenly matched in spiritual power, their physical strength was also presumably the same. No wonder their battles had gone nowhere. Now, Devil's strength had been cut in half and the other piece of himself was dead. Angel dominated the battle. The only thing that kept her from knocking Devil out of the sky was how badly she wanted this fight. For it to end quickly wouldn't satiate her own blood lust. She was not an angel from heaven, but an angel from a Mishima. She herself was a dark creature, buried underneath all those good intentions.

Finally, when Devil could no longer keep himself in the air, he landed, panting heavily but not defeated yet. He wanted to retreat into Kazuya, but refused to give Angel the satisfaction of putting him on the run. His opponent landed neatly a few feet away and assessed him for a moment.

Devil had been quite weakened, Angel thought. If he let Kazuya take over again, he could begin to heal and regain what meager strength in had, but she had no interest in letting him to that. Like she said, it was ending.

"Asuka."

The girl in the wheelchair began to pulse with a white light. It started weak, flickering like a dying light bulb, but as she concentrated on tapping into this power of hers on purpose, it grew more steady. Brighter. Stronger.

A purple haze began to lift from Devil's skin, revealing patches of Kazuya beneath, tan and scarred. The wings and horns dissipated into nothingness instead of shrinking and reentering his body. The third eye closed.

Then there was only Kazuya standing there, with both eyes brown and swaying on his feet. He collapsed, unconscious. Jin, feeling Angel's alarm and desperation, leapt from beside Asuka's chair and ran to his father's side in only a few strides.

Still not comprehending what he was seeing, Heihachi made a vague, reaching gesture towards his son's body, but Jin snarled, "Stay away from him!"

"Jin," Asuka called, wanting to run to him, but stuck in the wheelchair and too weak from her own injuries to propel it herself, "Your cell phone! Call for help! He needs to get to a hospital!"

Somehow his brain had been to muddled with fear and a fierce protective urge to think of that himself, but now that Asuka had told him to, Jin reached for his phone and started dialing frantically.

"No, Jin Kazama," Angel said softly, drawing his attention. Jin's alarm spiked and he whirled to face her, strained to hear her. "It doesn't matter. He won't live long. Devil was too much a part of him for his body to survive without. There is nothing that can be done."

"But—"

"We saved him. Be grateful for that. The Mishima curse ends here."

Confused, Asuka murmured, "I thought he hated his father."

"It's my fault," Angel said, meeting Jin's eyes with a regretful smile. "I wasn't paying enough attention. I assumed nothing changed. I thought I was still Kazuya's goodness. But I'm not, Jin Kazama. I'm yours."

Jin swallowed. "Why would my goodness need to be someone else? I've always tried to do the right thing. Not like…" Why was his mouth so dry?

"You rejected your love for your father, Jin Kazama, but love is too strong to just go away. You could never really hate him, but you tried so hard, rejected your true feelings so forcefully, embraced your need to be healed, that you called me. I thought it was strange that I always knew where you were, always knew what you were thinking, followed behind you like a shadow but could do none of those things for Kazuya. He was the one I wanted to be near. The one I wanted to heal. But it was you all along.

"But now you are healed. And now you are letting yourself feel your fear and pain at the thought of losing him before you ever really had him, that I'm fading back into you.

"I should have seen it before.

"I'm sorry, Jin Kazama."

He wept.

**The End.**

I was intimidated by the thought of writing this chapter for a long time. It's been 10 months since the last update. But once I sat down and forced myself to get to writing, it came out very easily and I'm quite pleased with it. I'm actually really proud of this whole story; I think it is one of my best.


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